The Black Hills
The Black Hills are a thin stretch of woodland pressed against the inner wall of the Bailey, and they should not exist. According to the accounts of those who built the wall, workers clear-cut the entire area during construction to establish clear sightlines and a defensible perimeter. By morning, the woods had returned, thicker and darker than before the cutting. No one has offered a satisfactory explanation for this. No one has tried to clear them again.
Navigational instruments fail inside the Black Hills. Compasses spin, markers become unreliable, and anyone who steps past the tree line risks becoming disoriented with no reliable method to find their way out. This property alone would make the place dangerous. Combined with the other phenomena reported from within, it makes the Black Hills one of the most avoided locations in Dominus Columbia.
Those stationed on the adjacent section of the Bailey wall report nightmares and sleep paralysis with a consistency that goes beyond coincidence. The posting is the most unpopular assignment in the Drafted Service, and it earns that reputation honestly. Screams are heard from within the woods at irregular intervals. Patrols learned through hard experience not to follow them. The screams are not calls for help, or if they are, whatever made them is not something a patrol can assist.
Within the Black Hills stand the Maniacal Henges, pre-fall ruins that host dark rites whose practitioners are not fully documented. Scratch Manor also sits somewhere in the interior, though details about its nature remain sparse. Young Telling Visionaries traditionally venture into the Black Hills to investigate ghost stories as a rite of passage. Some of those who enter do not return.
The anomalous properties of the Black Hills likely predate the establishment of Dominus Columbia and will likely outlast it. Whatever force drives the overnight regrowth, the instrument failures, and the psychological effects on those nearby operates on a timeline indifferent to human settlement. The wall was built around these woods for a reason. The woods have their own reasons for staying.
Navigational instruments fail inside the Black Hills. Compasses spin, markers become unreliable, and anyone who steps past the tree line risks becoming disoriented with no reliable method to find their way out. This property alone would make the place dangerous. Combined with the other phenomena reported from within, it makes the Black Hills one of the most avoided locations in Dominus Columbia.
Those stationed on the adjacent section of the Bailey wall report nightmares and sleep paralysis with a consistency that goes beyond coincidence. The posting is the most unpopular assignment in the Drafted Service, and it earns that reputation honestly. Screams are heard from within the woods at irregular intervals. Patrols learned through hard experience not to follow them. The screams are not calls for help, or if they are, whatever made them is not something a patrol can assist.
Within the Black Hills stand the Maniacal Henges, pre-fall ruins that host dark rites whose practitioners are not fully documented. Scratch Manor also sits somewhere in the interior, though details about its nature remain sparse. Young Telling Visionaries traditionally venture into the Black Hills to investigate ghost stories as a rite of passage. Some of those who enter do not return.
The anomalous properties of the Black Hills likely predate the establishment of Dominus Columbia and will likely outlast it. Whatever force drives the overnight regrowth, the instrument failures, and the psychological effects on those nearby operates on a timeline indifferent to human settlement. The wall was built around these woods for a reason. The woods have their own reasons for staying.
Geography
The Black Hills are a thin stretch of woodland pressed against the inner wall of the Bailey in Dominus Columbia. Workers clear-cut the entire area during construction of the wall to establish defensible sightlines. By morning, the woods had returned, thicker and darker than before. No one has offered a satisfactory explanation, and no one has attempted to clear them again. Navigational instruments fail inside the Black Hills: compasses spin, markers become unreliable, and anyone who steps past the tree line risks becoming disoriented with no reliable method to find their way out. The Maniacal Henges, pre-Fall ruins hosting dark rites, stand within the interior. Scratch Manor sits somewhere deeper in the woods. The anomalous properties of the Black Hills likely predate the establishment of Dominus Columbia and operate on a timeline indifferent to human settlement.
Anomalous woodland along the Bailey wall; instruments fail, screams echo, trees refuse to stay cut.
Location under
